Enriching Lives

I admit it - I'm a Mac nerd. In fact, I almost daily read MacRumors.

But this post didn't hit the Mac side of me - it hit the "follower of Jesus" side of me (which isn't really just a "side", it's more like all of me, but I digress...). Here's the part that really hit me:

In a 2006 speech to an investment group, Johnson recalled the early planning: "If you want to enrich their lives, you can't be in a parking lot, off a highway. You gotta be where they live their life. You gotta be right where they work, where they play, where they live, where they shop. The only way to enrich their life is to be part of their life. They've got to walk 10 feet to your store, not drive the car 10 miles. That's what enriching lives would take."

I believe this is what the Church should be doing - not living life "off a highway" separated from people, but rather being "right where they work, where they play, where they live, and where they shop." This is exactly what Christ did as Philippians 2 so eloquently puts it, as does John 1:14 (especially when you read it in the Message version). And if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, you are to act like Christ did - leave your "home" and go be where the people are. Or to use biblical language - followers of Jesus are to be salt and light. But the only way salt can enrich a food is to come into contact with it.

As a "professional" Christian, I admit that I allow my schedule to keep me from putting this idea into practice. But I needed this reminder: "The only way to enrich their life is to be part of their life." I just didn't expect a former Apple executive to be the one bringing the reminder to me.